New Ministerial group to tackle homelessness in Wales launched

A new group to tackle youth homelessness and oversee the innovative Housing First approach has been announced by the Welsh Government.

Tuesday 19 June 2018

First Minister Carwyn Jones said:

“I have been very clear that Wales must lead the way on tackling youth homelessness, with bold new approaches and interventions that make a real difference. It’s vital that government works with partners to help young people to avoid crisis situations and get into stable accommodation.

“Today we are announcing a task and finish group, to be chaired by Housing and Regeneration Minister Rebecca Evans, to lead on this important area of work, building on the extra £10m to tackle youth homelessness I announced at the end of last year.

“I said when I helped to launch this campaign that the words ‘youth’ and ‘homelessness’ do not belong together. We will continue to work with the End Youth Homelessness Cymru campaign to ensure all young people in Wales have a safe place to call home.”

Housing and Regeneration Minister Rebecca Evans said:

“Through this group we will ensure that across government and beyond, in areas such as social services, education, mental health, substance misuse and youth justice, we have a unified approach to prevention, and to supporting young people who are homeless to obtain somewhere safe and secure to live.

“The group will also advise on the implementation of the Housing First approach across Wales, including evaluation. Housing First is an innovative approach that has been proven to work, providing homeless people with accommodation and then offering them the support they need to be able to sustain a tenancy themselves. I’m looking forward to taking the lead on this work.”

Frances Beecher, Chief Executive of Llamau , which is the lead charity in the End Youth Homelessness Cymru campaign, said:

“We are delighted to see further commitment from the Welsh Government to ending youth homelessness in Wales which will build on the progress that End Youth Homelessness Cymru has made over the last year.

“We’re looking forward to continuing to work with Welsh Government to ensure that more young people are prevented from becoming homeless and that young people get the right support as soon as they need it.”